New Heart Attack Victims

Doctors say all of the medical education of risk factors and warning signs for heart attacks in men are working. Research shows over the last decade heart attacks have decreased 8 percent in this group. However, they are on the rise for women and the elderly. Now, doctors will have to shift gears for education.

A study by the Mayo Clinic examined more than 5,000 patients who were hospitalized for a heart attack between 1979 and 1994. They report while heart attack rates have dropped in 40-year-old men, they have increased in women, over 80 years of age, by almost 50 percent. Also, younger patients are surviving more heart attacks, but the effects are not true for people over 75.

The researchers write, "These findings indicate that the burden of coronary disease is shifting toward elderly persons and suggest that preventive and therapeutic gains have not been experienced equally throughout the population." They recommend more education be done to the female population, as well as the elderly population.

There are no definitive conclusions to explain the increase, however, the researchers do have some theories. They speculate more women may be smoking than in the past or more women have given up healthy lifestyles because they are working full-time. They also believe more of the medical education has been targeted at men and women have been excluded. The researchers are optimistic with focus on the elderly and women, the same positive effect will result as it has in men.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2002;136:341-348